Radical Transformation
~
"Did you see Tooks' face!?" Prida said, grinning from ear to ear as she and Roxanne finished changing in the gym locker rooms. Roxanne was just gulping much needed water from the fountain, and Prida was wielding her water bottle as a weapon, and flailing it about as she talked about the game they had just played.
"Yeah I did, and Jared," Roxanne looked up from the fountain; her face was wet from not just the water but from sweat. "I'll savor that moment for ever." She dried her face on a towel, and threw it to Prida.
"Thanks," Prida said and wiped her face. "Hey, I er, couldn't help noticing how you . . . er, seem to have taken a liking to Leo . . ." Prida grinned.
Roxanne went red slightly. "Maybe," she said, flashing a quick grin at her friend, who laughed.
"C'mon, let's get going," Prida said, passing the towel back to Roxanne, who stuffed it in her bag. "The bell will be going any min-"
The bell rang, and Prida and Roxanne looked at each other and chuckled. They felt their spirits had been lifted up to heaven. They were happy they won that game.
"Ut oh, we'll be late," Roxanne said, and they quickly made their way out of the changing rooms and into the gym, which was empty except for four extremely cute guys.
"Hey," Donny said, getting up from the bench they all were on, now out of their gray shirts and shorts and into their colored shirts and jeans.
"We were waiting for ya 'cause Tooks was hanging around, probably up to no good. I think he was waiting for you," Mikey said, getting up with the rest of his brothers.
"Thanks guys," Prida smiled. "Let's get going, eh?"
They all walked to their classrooms, but before they went their own ways, Mikey tried to tell Prida something, but didn't get it out before he was forced back by a stream of people. Prida shrugged and slowed down by the people pushing past her. Roxanne had got lost in the crowd of people, but her room was a different way to Prida's.
"Business Class," Donny announced. They were all still smiling because of the game.
"Why did you guys come back to the game anyway?" Leo asked. "Shouldn't Mikey have gone to the nurse or hospital?"
"Nah, she looked at it and only found that one of my stitches had popped," Mikey said, glad it wasn't anything more serious. "But it's still painful now, thanks to that jerk."
"Hey, we kicked his butt so he's paid back," Raph grinned. Mikey slapped his bro a high five and they walked on down the corridor towards their classroom.
"You guys needed me anyway," Donny said, smiling. "Don't question good players."
His brothers rolled their eyes and groaned at him, and walked over to their seats. There wasn't a chair at Raph's seat, so he quickly took Prida's.
Just then Prida walked into the room and stood at her desk where the chair should have been. She turned to Raph and put her hands on her hips.
"You took my chair," she accused. Everyone else was settling down in the class and she was still stood up.
"No I didn't," Raph said, pretending to frown and look around the room.
"Yeah you did I saw you!" Prida tried to tug the chair back to her table with Raph still on it, but he planted his feet on the ground and wouldn't budge. Prida gave up and crossed her arms. Leo, Donny and Mikey were laughing.
"Aw Prida," Mikey teased. "You'll have to sit on the floor, there's no more chairs left."
Indeed he was right, as Prida glanced around the room. Every chair just happened to have been taken, apart from one other person, but he had grabbed the teacher's chair, while laughing his head off at something. Prida stuck her lip out.
"Outta my chair," she said in a low voice, trying not to grin.
"Make me," Raph said, trying to keep a smile off his face.
Knowing she couldn't, Prida grinned and instead of 'making him' move, she sat on his knee.
"Hah," Prida laughed, and refused to move.
"Hey!" Raph said, arms held out in protest.
"I'm not moving until you give me my seat back," Prida said in a stubborn tone.
"Aw, Prida, I took your seat really," Mikey said. "You can sit on my knee." He laughed.
"Sorry Mikey, but I'm not moving from MY seat until Raph gives up," Prida crossed her arms. "I might numb your legs," she warned Raph.
"I've known heavier trust me, like when Mikey slept on me." Raph actually was surprised because Prida was so light. "I think you're gonna get uncomfortable," he grinned, and sat back with his hands behind his head.
"I think you are," Prida grinned behind her shoulder. For fun she bounced slightly on his knee, and Raph sat up straight and grabbed her shoulders, stopping her, obvious it wasn't comfy for Raph. She grinned while he put on a face that was humorous; but he had lost.
"I bet my knee's comfier than Raph's," Mikey crossed his arms and smiled just as the teacher came in; she sometimes took over from the other teacher. The class was still noisy, and she frowned when she saw Prida with two pairs of legs. She walked over to them and frowned.
"Didn't know you had two pairs of legs, Prida," the teacher said in a flat, humor voice.
"Oh, heh, no this is . .. erm, a dare," Prida said, smiling. "He has to put up with me here for the entire class." She motioned with her head to Raph behind her, who peeked around her shoulder and shrugged.
The teacher was smart, but she was also kind. "Yeah, okay, I just don't wanna see you two up to anything but sitting and working." She walked back to her desk, where she called out to the class to write down what she was writing on the blackboard. The class remained talkative, but at the same time got down to writing.
"Give up?" Prida asked about five minutes later, in which Raph had tried leaning his paper on her back and writing. She had squirmed because it tickled, and now his paper was slightly messy with inkblots. Now he was writing on the table, leaning around his friend, who was actually quite comfy where she was, and her work remained as neat as ever. She rested one of her legs across the other.
"Nope, you?" Raph challenged, frowning at another inkblot that appeared as Prida chuckled.
"Not a chance."
"You know, they're as bad as each other," Donny said to Leo, who looked up from his work and nodded. The teacher was a fast writing, so he had to write pretty fast to keep up. Mikey had abandoned the blackboard and was now copying from Leo. Raph was also copying from Prida as he couldn't see the board at all.
"Er, you spelt that wrong," Prida pointed out to Raph's work. She nudged his hand out the way, crossed out his wrongly spelt word and corrected it. She went back to writing her own. Raph ignored his brother's snickers. His cheeks were still slightly red at having a girl sat on his knee.
Donny put down his pen a few seconds before the teacher and announced he had finished.
"But you finished just before she had finished writing," Mikey pointed out, frowning.
"Yeah put it was predictable what she was about to end that paragraph with," Donny explained. The teacher heard this and shook her head, amazed by this kid's brilliance.
Tooks, who was sat two rows behind them as usual, glared at Raph's back. Why the hell Prida wanted to sit on him was beyond his understanding, and he didn't want to know. All he wanted to see was those four brothers being arrested by his dad, which he promised himself would happen very soon. So what if he had made a deal? He didn't keep his promises, so why should he keep his deals; they're basically just the same. Of course there were some special promises he would keep, if he made them to Prida. He glared some more.
It was nearing the end of the class, and Prida was amazed Raph could still put up with her weight on his knees. She had refused to shift even when all four brothers tried a tickle attack, after which they were told by the teacher that in this school usually a girl only has one boyfriend, in other words, they should sit down unless they wanted people to think that. She was being funny; there was nothing wrong with tickling friends.
When the bell rang a few minutes later, Prida jumped off Raph, and stood awkwardly. Raph also stood the same.
"My butts slightly numb," Prida said, grinning and glancing at Mikey, who was laughing at her.
"Same with my knees," Raph said, leaning on the desk.
"Well done for carrying out a dare," The teacher said. "Now skid-daddle guys, and no more sitting on people," she told Prida, who grinned and walked out of class with the rest of them to their next and last class of the day.
"Hey guys," Matt called to them as they walked in the room at the same time. Owen, Matt's brother, smiled, which slipped slightly as he studied the four identical faces trying to guess who was who again. Matt's friend Ben Taylor greeted them friendlily too.
Mikey made sure in this class that he sat next to Prida; and when the class got going, and the babble broke out, Mikey conversed with Prida, unnoticed among the talk around them. Everyone was too busy talking to notice the two swapping phone numbers, and hear Mikey warn Prida that they wouldn't always be at April's to pick up if she rang. Then he made her promise that she would do what they discussed, and after finally giving up with a smile and a sigh, Prida agreed. No one would know until they have to, and Mikey was excited about this; surprisingly so was Prida. She had finally given up on something, but it was hard not to fall for Mikey's cute puppy-dog eyes and his pleas. She just hoped that this wasn't going to be embarrassing.
So when the bell rang forty minutes later, and the class dispersed into the corridors, Mikey reminded Prida about their little plan.
"Just remember," Mikey said quickly before his brothers could hear, they were at the lockers. "I would buy it myself b-"
"Oh Hey, Prida?" Leo called over, interrupting Mikey. Prida looked up. "Er, how are you getting home?"
"Oh, don't worry, Korey's picking me up," Prida assured him, knowing he was worrying about her making her journey home, after what happened when they walked with her.
Leo nodded, and he and the other two started to make their way down the corridor to the exit of the school. Mikey stayed a few paces behind with Prida, who kept telling him she would ring when she was ready.
Outside of the school, all four brothers stopped with Prida.
"Aren't you walking home?" Prida asked, wondering why they were looking down the streets.
"Yeah," Donny said. "But we wanna make sure Korey picks you up first."
Prida felt slightly embarrassed about keeping them from walking. "Aw, guys, I'm sure Korey will come, I'll be fine."
"Maybe we wanna wait here anyway," Mikey said, smiling.
"What? All day? I guess I just won't do that certain thing I promised . . ." Prida teased, mysterious to the guys as to what she was on about. They frowned, and before they could ask her what she was on about, a blue car pulled up and Korey got out of his side, and waved to the guys. They waved back, and Prida said bye, glancing at Mikey before she pulled the door closed and the car sped off. The mysterious teaser thing was forgotten and the guys started to make their way back home.
"Hey, you know we can walk past that gadget store -" Donny spoke up as they passed a few little food stores.
"No!" His three brothers shouted, Mikey slightly louder. If Donny got in there, he could and would spend ages, and he had to get back home and wait for Prida's call. The four brothers carried on past the little food stores.
"Hey, you guys don't mind if I gave Prida April's number, do ya?" Mikey asked, hoping Leo wasn't going to explode and say how stupid that was, for some reason Mikey missed.
"Why did you give her our number?" Leo asked.
"Oh, well, er - just in case she needs it, ya know," Mikey shrugged.
"Hm, good thinking Mikey," Leo nodded, and Mikey found his mouth open, surprised Leo hadn't flipped or something. "But it was a good idea, and a bad idea, because you know we can't have Prida calling April's -"
"When we change back," Mikey sighed, finishing Leo's sentence with him.
"Prida's not the kind to phone and natter like normal girls," Raph pointed out distantly.
"And you would know," Donny grinned. Raph elbowed him.
"Huh?" Suddenly Leo stopped, eyes closed. His brothers looked at him, frowning.
"What's wrong dude?" Mikey asked.
Leo clutched his head; his face was screwed up either in concentration or because of a headache.
"I just . . . felt something . . ." he said, eyes still closed. "Like a warning - or something - I - I saw that man! The man we're looking for. He . . . he's looking for someone . . . He's looking for us . . . Near. It's near . . . soon, not long . . . No more waiting; Time is through; You seek me, while I seek you . . ."
Leo shook his head and opened his eyes, appearing a little disorientated. He frowned at his brothers.
"Leo, you okay?" Mikey asked softly.
"I'm . . . fine - it was a premonition, that man's looking for us, I saw a quick image of him. He - he's near . . ."
The other three looking unnerved slightly, glancing at each other before returning their eyes to Leo, who was looking at the floor.
"That thing you just said," Mikey spoke. "That poem thingy, tell me you made that up?"
"I didn't make it up, I've never heard it before," Leo frowned even more. "I just said it, as though it were being forced into my head."
"This is creeping ME out," Raph said almost casually, though sounding as though he was in no way creeped out. He was glancing around in case people were staring. No one was there.
"'No more waiting; time is through; You seek me while I seek you'," Donny repeated to himself. "And you said 'It's near' . . ."
"Yeah, he's looking for us, while we're looking for him, eventually we HAVE to meet with him," Mikey said.
"'Time is through', time is out, our meeting is obviously near," Leo said, while Donny nodded.
"We're gonna rally with him very soon if he sent you that little message," Donny said. "And when we do . . ."
"He'll change us back . . ." Leo finished. "But why go to all this trouble to change us back? Why doesn't he just leave us like this?"
"Why couldn't he just leave us like this?" Raph muttered very quietly. Leo frowned at him slightly, but Donny and Mikey, who were deep in though didn't hear, or didn't make any indication that they heard. Perhaps they had thought the same - even hoped the same . . .
"Let's get back to Splinter," Mikey said. "Maybe he could give us a rough date or time when this magic dude wants to meet."
"I don't know if Master Splinter would be able to," Leo said. "This guy has powerful magic, he can change anything."
"Let's go and tell him at least," Mikey suggested. He also wanted to get home so he wouldn't miss Prida's phone call. He WAS worried about this, but he felt much comfier pushing it to one side and enjoying something else.
They arrived home, after keeping an invisible eye on Leo, as he looking a little exhausted, and ran into the apartment. April was home early for once, and it looked like she and Splinter were enjoying a good meal and a comedy. They both looked up as the guys came in, and immediately Splinter sensed something, also knowing something was up with a glance at Leo, who seemed distant, even as he ran through the door.
"Hey guys, what's up?" April asked putting her plate down on the floor next to the couch.
"Leo just had a crazy vision thingy," Mikey explained, and silenced as his brother told April and Splinter what he had experienced.
"It is simple," Splinter said. "All we can do is wait for this time when you will cross paths. He knows it will be soon, and has informed you."
"How soon?" Mikey moaned. He would prefer a time, a date, at least a day.
April rushed about making them a warm drink, which only made Leo more tired than he already was.
"Maybe you should go to bed," April suggested to Leo, as he blinked tiredly, head bowed, sitting next to Donny and Raph on the couch. Just then the phone rang, and April picked it up. Mikey's ears pricked when he heard April say it was for him, from Prida. At last.
"Yellow," Mikey smiled, greeting Prida into the phone. "Yeah . . . okay, sure, that's fine, nah I'll walk, no it's okay, I got it . . . okay, see ya in twenty." He put the phone down.
"What did Prida want?" Donny asked. Next to him Leo lifted his head and listened too.
"Oh, she wants me to meet her at the cinema," Mikey said, pulling on his sneakers which he had only just pulled off a few minutes ago. "She wants a present for her sister, er, Mai's birthday, heh, and she wants my help to pick something out, like a nice cook book or something." Mikey congratulated himself on such a good cover up. "S'ok if I go, right?"
"Of course, Michelangelo," Splinter smiled.
Mikey grinned, felt cheeky enough to take down the baseball cap Raph now dubbed his own and plunk it on his head, and opened the door.
"See ya guys," he said, and disappeared before anyone could argue or ask to come with him. He was worried they might tell him not to go because of his foot, which was still slightly painful. Mikey told himself it would be fine. He was only going to walk around for a bit; but the reason he and Prida were meeting was because he had to help her pick something out, and he didn't know how picky she would be about this. It certainly wasn't a present for her sister, whose birthday happened to be in May anyway.
"I wonder why she didn't invite the rest of us," Donny thought, frowning slightly. Must be because Mikey was an expert in areas only he knows, and what Prida wants for her sister.
"Hm," Raph made a thoughtful noise. It was a little odd.
//
Mikey practically ran to the cinema, and by the time he got there his foot was throbbing. He came gasping around the corner, spotting Prida standing by herself near the ticket booth. She spotted him and waited for him, looking rather nervous. Mikey ran up to her, smiling.
"Didn't chicken out then I see," he teased.
"Nope, I didn't amazingly," Prida bit her lip. "I've never even done this with my sister, well, once, but that was a while ago, and Mai's attempt to get me in a dress failed. It seems you must have a stronger hold over me."
"C'mon, this'll be fun," Mikey said excitedly. "We're only going to look around for a great dress for you to wear for the disco, there's nothing to worry about."
"You're not the one who has to wear it tomorrow," Prida argued. "I mean - what if I look like a total idiot in a dress - Mai asked me where I was going, and she figured it out! She was shocked, then she offered to buy me some sandals - I mean, I can't wear sandals, couldn't I just wear sneakers?"
Mikey laughed. "Prida, I don't think sneakers go well with a dress - and stop worrying, no way will you look like an idiot, you're gonna look great! Man, I know more about this than you do, and I'm a guy!"
Prida laughed. Yeah, it did sound pretty funny, but she was no expert about what goes well with what, in dressing-up sense.
"But, I'd usually just wear jeans and a smart top," she argued further. "I dress would look too overly-dressed."
Mikey ignored her complaints. "C'mon, this is gonna be fun, and you'll know when we get going," Mikey said, grinning. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "Let's go, Cinderella!"
"What if nothing suits me, though?" Prida moaned. "I mean, I've never seen me in a dress, you've never seen me in a dress - no one's seen me in a dress! How will I know what looks good?"
"You'll know Prida, because I'll be drooling," Mikey joked.
Prida rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully. "I really don't like this shopping-for-dresses thing."
Mikey led the way into a fancy looking clothes store, Prida behind him.
"Hey, don't worry, I bet they'll be so many things that look great on you, you won't know which one to pick. This is hard for me too, I mean I have to walk into all these clothes stores, no idea what I'm looking for here . . . I even have to keep this big secret from my bros, until they see you tomorrow - and I know their jaws'll drop when they see you; walking in with me of course." Mikey grinned.
Prida's butterflies fluttered a little faster at the thought of her showing herself in a dress to everyone else. She had promised Mikey she would show him what they look like if she tried any on in the stores, and he would give rating out of ten.
"Okay," Mikey said, coming to a stop in front of a dress rack, holding plenty of smart clothes. "Pick something that you like the look of, and . . ." he looked around for a dressing room. He spotted one. " . . . Go try it on."
"Mikey," Prida moaned. "I really don't wan-"
Mikey held his finger to her lip. "At ah, you promised!"
So Prida found herself regretting her promise, and started looking through racks and racks, store after store for something she might like, and something that might go well. Actually all the things she tried on were presented with a 'growl!' from Mikey, and him pretending to faint in surprised. She was pretty embarrassed, but admitted it was sort of fun. And she was really surprised to find that Mikey was right, and that most of the clothes she did try on suited her perfectly. Mikey particularly liked a lavender colored dress that hugged her figure. He was pretty shocked to see her toned stomach, and sniggered to himself, thinking about how the guys' jaws WOULD most likely drop.
"Mikey, stop drooling," Prida said after nearly two hours of this in and out of clothes stores. "People keep staring at you." She laughed.
"Let them stare, I'll be staring at you tomorrow night!" Mikey grinned. "And so will everyone else." Prida went red.
"What will - or did - you say to your brothers when you came out?"
"I told 'em you wanted help picking out a present for Mai," Mikey responded, smiling.
"Just don't tell or hint anything to them about this," Prida warned him jokingly. "Or I'll chop anything I buy into pieces and refuse to go to the disco."
"I promise!" Mikey put a hand on his heart. "You will be walking in with me right? I'll lose my brothers, or tell them I've gone to the restroom, and we'll walk in together - everyone will be so jealous! I can't wait!" Mikey laughed as he imaged everyone's faces.
"Yeah, okay, but if I throw up over you, you can't blame me," Prida bit her lip nervously.
"Hey Prida," Mikey said, looking across the street.
"Um?"
Mikey pointed to a clothes store. "I think I found your dress . . ." He grinned.
~
"Did you see Tooks' face!?" Prida said, grinning from ear to ear as she and Roxanne finished changing in the gym locker rooms. Roxanne was just gulping much needed water from the fountain, and Prida was wielding her water bottle as a weapon, and flailing it about as she talked about the game they had just played.
"Yeah I did, and Jared," Roxanne looked up from the fountain; her face was wet from not just the water but from sweat. "I'll savor that moment for ever." She dried her face on a towel, and threw it to Prida.
"Thanks," Prida said and wiped her face. "Hey, I er, couldn't help noticing how you . . . er, seem to have taken a liking to Leo . . ." Prida grinned.
Roxanne went red slightly. "Maybe," she said, flashing a quick grin at her friend, who laughed.
"C'mon, let's get going," Prida said, passing the towel back to Roxanne, who stuffed it in her bag. "The bell will be going any min-"
The bell rang, and Prida and Roxanne looked at each other and chuckled. They felt their spirits had been lifted up to heaven. They were happy they won that game.
"Ut oh, we'll be late," Roxanne said, and they quickly made their way out of the changing rooms and into the gym, which was empty except for four extremely cute guys.
"Hey," Donny said, getting up from the bench they all were on, now out of their gray shirts and shorts and into their colored shirts and jeans.
"We were waiting for ya 'cause Tooks was hanging around, probably up to no good. I think he was waiting for you," Mikey said, getting up with the rest of his brothers.
"Thanks guys," Prida smiled. "Let's get going, eh?"
They all walked to their classrooms, but before they went their own ways, Mikey tried to tell Prida something, but didn't get it out before he was forced back by a stream of people. Prida shrugged and slowed down by the people pushing past her. Roxanne had got lost in the crowd of people, but her room was a different way to Prida's.
"Business Class," Donny announced. They were all still smiling because of the game.
"Why did you guys come back to the game anyway?" Leo asked. "Shouldn't Mikey have gone to the nurse or hospital?"
"Nah, she looked at it and only found that one of my stitches had popped," Mikey said, glad it wasn't anything more serious. "But it's still painful now, thanks to that jerk."
"Hey, we kicked his butt so he's paid back," Raph grinned. Mikey slapped his bro a high five and they walked on down the corridor towards their classroom.
"You guys needed me anyway," Donny said, smiling. "Don't question good players."
His brothers rolled their eyes and groaned at him, and walked over to their seats. There wasn't a chair at Raph's seat, so he quickly took Prida's.
Just then Prida walked into the room and stood at her desk where the chair should have been. She turned to Raph and put her hands on her hips.
"You took my chair," she accused. Everyone else was settling down in the class and she was still stood up.
"No I didn't," Raph said, pretending to frown and look around the room.
"Yeah you did I saw you!" Prida tried to tug the chair back to her table with Raph still on it, but he planted his feet on the ground and wouldn't budge. Prida gave up and crossed her arms. Leo, Donny and Mikey were laughing.
"Aw Prida," Mikey teased. "You'll have to sit on the floor, there's no more chairs left."
Indeed he was right, as Prida glanced around the room. Every chair just happened to have been taken, apart from one other person, but he had grabbed the teacher's chair, while laughing his head off at something. Prida stuck her lip out.
"Outta my chair," she said in a low voice, trying not to grin.
"Make me," Raph said, trying to keep a smile off his face.
Knowing she couldn't, Prida grinned and instead of 'making him' move, she sat on his knee.
"Hah," Prida laughed, and refused to move.
"Hey!" Raph said, arms held out in protest.
"I'm not moving until you give me my seat back," Prida said in a stubborn tone.
"Aw, Prida, I took your seat really," Mikey said. "You can sit on my knee." He laughed.
"Sorry Mikey, but I'm not moving from MY seat until Raph gives up," Prida crossed her arms. "I might numb your legs," she warned Raph.
"I've known heavier trust me, like when Mikey slept on me." Raph actually was surprised because Prida was so light. "I think you're gonna get uncomfortable," he grinned, and sat back with his hands behind his head.
"I think you are," Prida grinned behind her shoulder. For fun she bounced slightly on his knee, and Raph sat up straight and grabbed her shoulders, stopping her, obvious it wasn't comfy for Raph. She grinned while he put on a face that was humorous; but he had lost.
"I bet my knee's comfier than Raph's," Mikey crossed his arms and smiled just as the teacher came in; she sometimes took over from the other teacher. The class was still noisy, and she frowned when she saw Prida with two pairs of legs. She walked over to them and frowned.
"Didn't know you had two pairs of legs, Prida," the teacher said in a flat, humor voice.
"Oh, heh, no this is . .. erm, a dare," Prida said, smiling. "He has to put up with me here for the entire class." She motioned with her head to Raph behind her, who peeked around her shoulder and shrugged.
The teacher was smart, but she was also kind. "Yeah, okay, I just don't wanna see you two up to anything but sitting and working." She walked back to her desk, where she called out to the class to write down what she was writing on the blackboard. The class remained talkative, but at the same time got down to writing.
"Give up?" Prida asked about five minutes later, in which Raph had tried leaning his paper on her back and writing. She had squirmed because it tickled, and now his paper was slightly messy with inkblots. Now he was writing on the table, leaning around his friend, who was actually quite comfy where she was, and her work remained as neat as ever. She rested one of her legs across the other.
"Nope, you?" Raph challenged, frowning at another inkblot that appeared as Prida chuckled.
"Not a chance."
"You know, they're as bad as each other," Donny said to Leo, who looked up from his work and nodded. The teacher was a fast writing, so he had to write pretty fast to keep up. Mikey had abandoned the blackboard and was now copying from Leo. Raph was also copying from Prida as he couldn't see the board at all.
"Er, you spelt that wrong," Prida pointed out to Raph's work. She nudged his hand out the way, crossed out his wrongly spelt word and corrected it. She went back to writing her own. Raph ignored his brother's snickers. His cheeks were still slightly red at having a girl sat on his knee.
Donny put down his pen a few seconds before the teacher and announced he had finished.
"But you finished just before she had finished writing," Mikey pointed out, frowning.
"Yeah put it was predictable what she was about to end that paragraph with," Donny explained. The teacher heard this and shook her head, amazed by this kid's brilliance.
Tooks, who was sat two rows behind them as usual, glared at Raph's back. Why the hell Prida wanted to sit on him was beyond his understanding, and he didn't want to know. All he wanted to see was those four brothers being arrested by his dad, which he promised himself would happen very soon. So what if he had made a deal? He didn't keep his promises, so why should he keep his deals; they're basically just the same. Of course there were some special promises he would keep, if he made them to Prida. He glared some more.
It was nearing the end of the class, and Prida was amazed Raph could still put up with her weight on his knees. She had refused to shift even when all four brothers tried a tickle attack, after which they were told by the teacher that in this school usually a girl only has one boyfriend, in other words, they should sit down unless they wanted people to think that. She was being funny; there was nothing wrong with tickling friends.
When the bell rang a few minutes later, Prida jumped off Raph, and stood awkwardly. Raph also stood the same.
"My butts slightly numb," Prida said, grinning and glancing at Mikey, who was laughing at her.
"Same with my knees," Raph said, leaning on the desk.
"Well done for carrying out a dare," The teacher said. "Now skid-daddle guys, and no more sitting on people," she told Prida, who grinned and walked out of class with the rest of them to their next and last class of the day.
"Hey guys," Matt called to them as they walked in the room at the same time. Owen, Matt's brother, smiled, which slipped slightly as he studied the four identical faces trying to guess who was who again. Matt's friend Ben Taylor greeted them friendlily too.
Mikey made sure in this class that he sat next to Prida; and when the class got going, and the babble broke out, Mikey conversed with Prida, unnoticed among the talk around them. Everyone was too busy talking to notice the two swapping phone numbers, and hear Mikey warn Prida that they wouldn't always be at April's to pick up if she rang. Then he made her promise that she would do what they discussed, and after finally giving up with a smile and a sigh, Prida agreed. No one would know until they have to, and Mikey was excited about this; surprisingly so was Prida. She had finally given up on something, but it was hard not to fall for Mikey's cute puppy-dog eyes and his pleas. She just hoped that this wasn't going to be embarrassing.
So when the bell rang forty minutes later, and the class dispersed into the corridors, Mikey reminded Prida about their little plan.
"Just remember," Mikey said quickly before his brothers could hear, they were at the lockers. "I would buy it myself b-"
"Oh Hey, Prida?" Leo called over, interrupting Mikey. Prida looked up. "Er, how are you getting home?"
"Oh, don't worry, Korey's picking me up," Prida assured him, knowing he was worrying about her making her journey home, after what happened when they walked with her.
Leo nodded, and he and the other two started to make their way down the corridor to the exit of the school. Mikey stayed a few paces behind with Prida, who kept telling him she would ring when she was ready.
Outside of the school, all four brothers stopped with Prida.
"Aren't you walking home?" Prida asked, wondering why they were looking down the streets.
"Yeah," Donny said. "But we wanna make sure Korey picks you up first."
Prida felt slightly embarrassed about keeping them from walking. "Aw, guys, I'm sure Korey will come, I'll be fine."
"Maybe we wanna wait here anyway," Mikey said, smiling.
"What? All day? I guess I just won't do that certain thing I promised . . ." Prida teased, mysterious to the guys as to what she was on about. They frowned, and before they could ask her what she was on about, a blue car pulled up and Korey got out of his side, and waved to the guys. They waved back, and Prida said bye, glancing at Mikey before she pulled the door closed and the car sped off. The mysterious teaser thing was forgotten and the guys started to make their way back home.
"Hey, you know we can walk past that gadget store -" Donny spoke up as they passed a few little food stores.
"No!" His three brothers shouted, Mikey slightly louder. If Donny got in there, he could and would spend ages, and he had to get back home and wait for Prida's call. The four brothers carried on past the little food stores.
"Hey, you guys don't mind if I gave Prida April's number, do ya?" Mikey asked, hoping Leo wasn't going to explode and say how stupid that was, for some reason Mikey missed.
"Why did you give her our number?" Leo asked.
"Oh, well, er - just in case she needs it, ya know," Mikey shrugged.
"Hm, good thinking Mikey," Leo nodded, and Mikey found his mouth open, surprised Leo hadn't flipped or something. "But it was a good idea, and a bad idea, because you know we can't have Prida calling April's -"
"When we change back," Mikey sighed, finishing Leo's sentence with him.
"Prida's not the kind to phone and natter like normal girls," Raph pointed out distantly.
"And you would know," Donny grinned. Raph elbowed him.
"Huh?" Suddenly Leo stopped, eyes closed. His brothers looked at him, frowning.
"What's wrong dude?" Mikey asked.
Leo clutched his head; his face was screwed up either in concentration or because of a headache.
"I just . . . felt something . . ." he said, eyes still closed. "Like a warning - or something - I - I saw that man! The man we're looking for. He . . . he's looking for someone . . . He's looking for us . . . Near. It's near . . . soon, not long . . . No more waiting; Time is through; You seek me, while I seek you . . ."
Leo shook his head and opened his eyes, appearing a little disorientated. He frowned at his brothers.
"Leo, you okay?" Mikey asked softly.
"I'm . . . fine - it was a premonition, that man's looking for us, I saw a quick image of him. He - he's near . . ."
The other three looking unnerved slightly, glancing at each other before returning their eyes to Leo, who was looking at the floor.
"That thing you just said," Mikey spoke. "That poem thingy, tell me you made that up?"
"I didn't make it up, I've never heard it before," Leo frowned even more. "I just said it, as though it were being forced into my head."
"This is creeping ME out," Raph said almost casually, though sounding as though he was in no way creeped out. He was glancing around in case people were staring. No one was there.
"'No more waiting; time is through; You seek me while I seek you'," Donny repeated to himself. "And you said 'It's near' . . ."
"Yeah, he's looking for us, while we're looking for him, eventually we HAVE to meet with him," Mikey said.
"'Time is through', time is out, our meeting is obviously near," Leo said, while Donny nodded.
"We're gonna rally with him very soon if he sent you that little message," Donny said. "And when we do . . ."
"He'll change us back . . ." Leo finished. "But why go to all this trouble to change us back? Why doesn't he just leave us like this?"
"Why couldn't he just leave us like this?" Raph muttered very quietly. Leo frowned at him slightly, but Donny and Mikey, who were deep in though didn't hear, or didn't make any indication that they heard. Perhaps they had thought the same - even hoped the same . . .
"Let's get back to Splinter," Mikey said. "Maybe he could give us a rough date or time when this magic dude wants to meet."
"I don't know if Master Splinter would be able to," Leo said. "This guy has powerful magic, he can change anything."
"Let's go and tell him at least," Mikey suggested. He also wanted to get home so he wouldn't miss Prida's phone call. He WAS worried about this, but he felt much comfier pushing it to one side and enjoying something else.
They arrived home, after keeping an invisible eye on Leo, as he looking a little exhausted, and ran into the apartment. April was home early for once, and it looked like she and Splinter were enjoying a good meal and a comedy. They both looked up as the guys came in, and immediately Splinter sensed something, also knowing something was up with a glance at Leo, who seemed distant, even as he ran through the door.
"Hey guys, what's up?" April asked putting her plate down on the floor next to the couch.
"Leo just had a crazy vision thingy," Mikey explained, and silenced as his brother told April and Splinter what he had experienced.
"It is simple," Splinter said. "All we can do is wait for this time when you will cross paths. He knows it will be soon, and has informed you."
"How soon?" Mikey moaned. He would prefer a time, a date, at least a day.
April rushed about making them a warm drink, which only made Leo more tired than he already was.
"Maybe you should go to bed," April suggested to Leo, as he blinked tiredly, head bowed, sitting next to Donny and Raph on the couch. Just then the phone rang, and April picked it up. Mikey's ears pricked when he heard April say it was for him, from Prida. At last.
"Yellow," Mikey smiled, greeting Prida into the phone. "Yeah . . . okay, sure, that's fine, nah I'll walk, no it's okay, I got it . . . okay, see ya in twenty." He put the phone down.
"What did Prida want?" Donny asked. Next to him Leo lifted his head and listened too.
"Oh, she wants me to meet her at the cinema," Mikey said, pulling on his sneakers which he had only just pulled off a few minutes ago. "She wants a present for her sister, er, Mai's birthday, heh, and she wants my help to pick something out, like a nice cook book or something." Mikey congratulated himself on such a good cover up. "S'ok if I go, right?"
"Of course, Michelangelo," Splinter smiled.
Mikey grinned, felt cheeky enough to take down the baseball cap Raph now dubbed his own and plunk it on his head, and opened the door.
"See ya guys," he said, and disappeared before anyone could argue or ask to come with him. He was worried they might tell him not to go because of his foot, which was still slightly painful. Mikey told himself it would be fine. He was only going to walk around for a bit; but the reason he and Prida were meeting was because he had to help her pick something out, and he didn't know how picky she would be about this. It certainly wasn't a present for her sister, whose birthday happened to be in May anyway.
"I wonder why she didn't invite the rest of us," Donny thought, frowning slightly. Must be because Mikey was an expert in areas only he knows, and what Prida wants for her sister.
"Hm," Raph made a thoughtful noise. It was a little odd.
//
Mikey practically ran to the cinema, and by the time he got there his foot was throbbing. He came gasping around the corner, spotting Prida standing by herself near the ticket booth. She spotted him and waited for him, looking rather nervous. Mikey ran up to her, smiling.
"Didn't chicken out then I see," he teased.
"Nope, I didn't amazingly," Prida bit her lip. "I've never even done this with my sister, well, once, but that was a while ago, and Mai's attempt to get me in a dress failed. It seems you must have a stronger hold over me."
"C'mon, this'll be fun," Mikey said excitedly. "We're only going to look around for a great dress for you to wear for the disco, there's nothing to worry about."
"You're not the one who has to wear it tomorrow," Prida argued. "I mean - what if I look like a total idiot in a dress - Mai asked me where I was going, and she figured it out! She was shocked, then she offered to buy me some sandals - I mean, I can't wear sandals, couldn't I just wear sneakers?"
Mikey laughed. "Prida, I don't think sneakers go well with a dress - and stop worrying, no way will you look like an idiot, you're gonna look great! Man, I know more about this than you do, and I'm a guy!"
Prida laughed. Yeah, it did sound pretty funny, but she was no expert about what goes well with what, in dressing-up sense.
"But, I'd usually just wear jeans and a smart top," she argued further. "I dress would look too overly-dressed."
Mikey ignored her complaints. "C'mon, this is gonna be fun, and you'll know when we get going," Mikey said, grinning. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "Let's go, Cinderella!"
"What if nothing suits me, though?" Prida moaned. "I mean, I've never seen me in a dress, you've never seen me in a dress - no one's seen me in a dress! How will I know what looks good?"
"You'll know Prida, because I'll be drooling," Mikey joked.
Prida rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully. "I really don't like this shopping-for-dresses thing."
Mikey led the way into a fancy looking clothes store, Prida behind him.
"Hey, don't worry, I bet they'll be so many things that look great on you, you won't know which one to pick. This is hard for me too, I mean I have to walk into all these clothes stores, no idea what I'm looking for here . . . I even have to keep this big secret from my bros, until they see you tomorrow - and I know their jaws'll drop when they see you; walking in with me of course." Mikey grinned.
Prida's butterflies fluttered a little faster at the thought of her showing herself in a dress to everyone else. She had promised Mikey she would show him what they look like if she tried any on in the stores, and he would give rating out of ten.
"Okay," Mikey said, coming to a stop in front of a dress rack, holding plenty of smart clothes. "Pick something that you like the look of, and . . ." he looked around for a dressing room. He spotted one. " . . . Go try it on."
"Mikey," Prida moaned. "I really don't wan-"
Mikey held his finger to her lip. "At ah, you promised!"
So Prida found herself regretting her promise, and started looking through racks and racks, store after store for something she might like, and something that might go well. Actually all the things she tried on were presented with a 'growl!' from Mikey, and him pretending to faint in surprised. She was pretty embarrassed, but admitted it was sort of fun. And she was really surprised to find that Mikey was right, and that most of the clothes she did try on suited her perfectly. Mikey particularly liked a lavender colored dress that hugged her figure. He was pretty shocked to see her toned stomach, and sniggered to himself, thinking about how the guys' jaws WOULD most likely drop.
"Mikey, stop drooling," Prida said after nearly two hours of this in and out of clothes stores. "People keep staring at you." She laughed.
"Let them stare, I'll be staring at you tomorrow night!" Mikey grinned. "And so will everyone else." Prida went red.
"What will - or did - you say to your brothers when you came out?"
"I told 'em you wanted help picking out a present for Mai," Mikey responded, smiling.
"Just don't tell or hint anything to them about this," Prida warned him jokingly. "Or I'll chop anything I buy into pieces and refuse to go to the disco."
"I promise!" Mikey put a hand on his heart. "You will be walking in with me right? I'll lose my brothers, or tell them I've gone to the restroom, and we'll walk in together - everyone will be so jealous! I can't wait!" Mikey laughed as he imaged everyone's faces.
"Yeah, okay, but if I throw up over you, you can't blame me," Prida bit her lip nervously.
"Hey Prida," Mikey said, looking across the street.
"Um?"
Mikey pointed to a clothes store. "I think I found your dress . . ." He grinned.